No one knows for sure how Geraldine got its name, though some say it was named for a lovely Indian maiden. The first official record came on September 5, 1882, when Mr. William A. Johnson applied for the location of a new post office; the post office record shows that the name "Lee" was written on the first application, then marked through and replaced with Geraldine. The Town of Geraldine was incorporated in 1956, and its first city officials were Mayor Raymond Upton, councilmen D.G. Morrow, Ernest Upton, T.A. Guest, V.W. Martin, and Leroy Porter, and Town Clerk Verlon Masters. The Volunteer Fire Department was organized in 1958 with Arthur Porter as the first fire chief. The first Geraldine School was established in 1911 and was accredited for the 1920-21 school year. The high school band was organized in 1958, and Geraldine School was accredited with the Association of High Schools and Colleges in 1961. Athletics have been important from the early 1920s to the present, with the girls' basketball team winning the state championship in 1929, the boys' basketball team in 1931, 1932, and 1933, the girls' softball team in 1999 and 2000, and the girls' volleyball team in 2001.